Biology of Spermatogenesis and Spermatozoa in Mammals

The spermatogenesis and spermatozoa of mammals are of funda mental interest to a wide variety of academic and scientific disci plines; zoologists keep up interest in comparative biology of sper matogenesis and spermatozoa in different groups of mammals for determining their phylogenetic interrelationships. Therefore, during the past 15 years, a wealth of reviews and papers have been published on the morphology (including ultrastructure), histochemistry, auto radiography, biochemistry (including immunology), and cell physiol ogy of the seminiferous epithelium including Sertoli cells, spermato genesis and spermatozoa in mammals. Hormonal regulation of sper matogenesis also forms the subject to numerous studies. Research in this area of reproductive biology continues at a remarkable rate, and new and significant information appears daily in a wide range of journals, published symposia, and specialist reviews. The scattered nature of this information makes it difficult for a scientist, student or andrologist to go through even a small fraction of these publications on the biology of spermatogenesis and spermatozoa and so obtain a general oversight of current activity and new advances. Actually, very little attempt has been made previously to summarize and inte grate the vast information which has become available as a result of use of modern techniques of microscopy, surface topography, histo chemistry, autoradiography, biochemistry, biophysics, immunology, molecular biology, in vitro systems, etc. Much-needed interdisciplin ary approach in biology of seminiferous epithelium, spermatogenesis and spermatozoa is very difficult and thus lacking.